See the lanterns float and ‘leave with a memory’ this Saturday

POCATELLO – This weekend, hundreds of glowing lanterns will float on a pond in the Portneuf Valley as onlookers make a memory with their loved ones and appreciate the view.

The fourth Harvest Lantern Festival, sponsored by Phil Meador Toyota, will be held Saturday at the Portneuf Wellness Complex. Attendees will decorate lanterns with their friends and family, and then they’ll watch as they float away in the complex’s pond, ushering in the autumn season.

“It just warms my heart to see families sitting together, decorating their lanterns, and then walking down to the lake all together and floating (them) out there,” said Drurene Bybee, an organizer of the event. “You just feel the love that everybody has for each other, and everyone’s floating them for different reasons.”

Bybee, who co-owns Randy’s Tumbling and Xtreme Fun with her husband, Randy Bybee, said that the Harvest Lantern Festival started because her children attended a similar event, and were dissatisfied with the experience.

“They went and they picked up their lantern kit, and I think there was like one vendor and one food truck, and really nothing for them to do, and people just went and floated the lantern out on the lake. They didn’t have any set time. They didn’t have everybody do it together,” Bybee said.

When her children came back home, one of them told her, “I think you could do it better.”

Although Bybee didn’t think she had the time to do it, they kept talking about it, which turned into brainstorming, and eventually led to agreeing to organize it. The first Harvest Lantern Festival was held in 2023.

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This year, there will be a variety of bands playing live music during the festival, which starts at 4 p.m.:

• Shandi Michelle, 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
• Baked Goods, 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
• Blazerz, 6:45 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.
• Relic Acoustic Band, 7:45 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

There will also be six food vendors for attendees to choose from:

• Sticks and Scones
• The Soda Mix
• The Calzone Guy
• La Tropicana
• Tanks Smokin BBQ
• Modi’s DogHouse

During the festival, there will also be a cornhole tournament, face painting, tumbling demonstrations, and more. While this is going on, attendees will be able to decorate lanterns that are available to buy on the website or in person at the event.

Only lanterns provided by the festival are eligible to float the pond. This prevents litter from filling up the water, because the festival’s lanterns stay floating and float to the edge of the pond where they can be collected later.

After people have decorated their lanterns, and the sun begins to go down, they can gather at the pond’s beach. Attendees will float their lanterns at 8 p.m.

“It’s always so touching when they all walk down there. It’s kind of funny. They walk down there, and they’re holding their lanterns as if it’s some kind of prize or something of great value,” Bybee said.

With this being the fourth year of the event, it’s gone on long enough that Bybee has seen people float lanterns for many different reasons, whether it’s a couple’s proposal, or mourning the death of a loved one.

But no matter the reason someone floats a lantern, Bybee says they get to make a memory with their loved ones.

“We say, ‘Come float a lantern and leave with a memory,’” Bybee said.